The Word Became Flesh: Discussion Guide

1.16.22
In Person Series
John 1:1-18
The Word Became Flesh

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

OPEN
As the saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” It is often in the season of missing
something or someone that we discover what we enjoyed but likely took for granted. When you are
unable to be in person with someone that you love, what is it that you miss? When personal encounters
are replaced by phone calls or video calls or text messages, what gets lost? Or when the excruciating
separation of death keeps you from being with someone you love, what is it that you long for? When it
comes to relationships, there really is no substitute for being in person. Why is that?

NEXT
John, like Matthew, Mark and Luke, is setting out to tell us about Jesus of Nazareth. He will write about
what he saw Jesus do. He will recount what he heard Jesus say. But first he wants his readers to know
who Jesus is. Slowly and deliberately read through the first eighteen verses of John’s gospel and along
the way fill in the phrase, Jesus is ________. (ex. Jesus is the Word, Jesus was in the beginning, Jesus
was with God. Jesus is God…) Make a list. How much does John say about the identity of Jesus in this
prologue?

Look back over your list. Which of these descriptions of Jesus is the most difficult to understand?
Which is the most difficult to believe? Which of these descriptions of Jesus would be controversial
today? Which of these attributes of Jesus do you find to be personally humbling or even confronting?
Which of these descriptions gives you the most comfort today?

Some have said that the story about Jesus is just one story among several that point to the same God.
The idea would be that the religions of the world are essentially all the same and Christianity is just one
take among several on who God is and what God is like. What is it about John’s prologue that makes
this impossible? Look specifically at John 1:14. Is Jesus just one savior among many? Is he just one way
to God among many?

God became flesh. The eternal Word, who always was and who always will be, stepped into history and
became one of us. What does that tell you about what God is like? What does that tell you about how
God feels about us? What does that tell you about Jesus before John even tells the first story?

CLOSING
As you end your study of this text, go back over your list of the descriptions of Jesus. Give thanks for
who He is.